chrismartin

Has anybody given any thought to the flooring around their tying space. I'm thinking of redoing a room for tying and I'm not sure what to do about floor. Carpet seems like a good choice when it comes to keeping scrap fibers from freely floating around, however, it sucks when you drop hooks or small beads. The opposite is true with tile or wood... hooks and beads are safe, but feathers and dubbing would be constantly floating about. It seems that no matter what flooring I consider, there are plenty of drawbacks. Has anybody found a flooring material that meets the needs of a tying room? Am I thinking about it too much. Has the excitement of my own tying room caused me to manifest female characteristics? Can I get your thoughts... about the flooring

I'm planning a 6 day trek into Algonquin park this coming spring (May 9 - 14). We want to get deep into the park and target large brook trout. I'm looking for some advice regarding productive lakes and effective flies. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

It all depends on what I'm tying... I have 50 GB of music, so there's a song for every mood For big nasty Pike and Muskie flies I want heavy. Aggressive fish, aggressive flies... aggressive music - Metallica, Mute Math, Blindside, Rage Against The Machine etc. On the opposite end of the scale, when I'm tying mid sized dries (14, 16 18) I like to slow it down - Cowboys and Indians, David Gray, Van Morrison, Cat Stevens Bass flies get me a little giddy... tying craws, Clousers and poppers remind me of hot summer days and warm summer nuights. I need fun, up beat music for that - 311, Jack Johnson, Bedouin Soundclash Steelheading can be epic... extreme elements, extreme locations extreme fish. When tying for a potentially epic adventure I need complex music with layers - Incubus, Supertramp, Angels and Airwaves, TSO Tricos and midges are a chore! I need to remain calm and focused. Vivaldi, Mozart and Pachabel help me with that. When tying flies for the flats, I want to feel like I'm on the flats... turn up the heat and turn on Jimmy Buffet and Bob Marley There are many more flies each with their own moods... if I shared them all with you, you would all think I had OCD or some other mental health issue

need a quick clarification... should I send the flies by the 15th or do you want to receive them by the 15th

I would love to be a part of this swap... how does a stillwater caddis sound

Not only does my wife not tie, she's not interested in fishing at all. I've tryed to take her fishing, but it's just not something she can get into... we do however, have a common intrest in craft supplies

I would love to join this swap, but I'm in Canada... will I have any problem sending fur and feathers across the border? If it's not an issue, I'm in. I'll do a few sets of the caddis life cycle. Larva, pupa, wet, emerger and dun

Great looking fly... is the abdomen silk?

Dogs only want one thing from you and that's you love and affection... If losing your dong hurts you that much, it's clear that you gave him the love he wanted. I think he left this world as a happy dog.

Love them! I've noticed that you're not using rabbit strips in your flies. Any particular reason, or is it just a material preference... or have you just not posted any with rabbit. I use a lot of rabbit strips for my pike and muskie flies. I love the movement it get

How do you store and manage your EP fibers? I bought the 3D fibers and they just came in a bag,. They started out neat, and strait and all pointing one direction, until I started using them. They're starting to look a bit like a birds nest and are a real pain to slide back into the bag. I'm also catching some heat from my wife... she's finding EP fibers floating around the house. Any help would be appreciated.

The markings on that fish are beautiful! Thanks for sharing your story.

What a great picture!

The ones with the scales are commercially made foam bodies... they suck! I wish i never bought them. I'm in the process of making new ones to replace then. Sorry to burst your bubble.

This is my first attempt at using EP fibers. I'm no totally happy with the result. I think they could be much better.. any advice?

That is a great Trevally and I love the story. Do you have a picture of the fly? I would love to see it.

I like the Q-tip trick. Also, go through your flies and pick out the junk... anything that didn't turn out right, or stuff that isn't on par with what you can tie now. Take a razor blade to them and try again. I have a small jar of flies I tied when I was first starting. Just a bunch of stuff that really isn't that good. Every once in a while I'll clean off a few of them and re-tie on the hook. Keep tying!

I love the way rabbit strips move in the water, but my vote was for synthetic... I use more synthetic material for my bass, pike and muskie flies. The majority of the streamers that I tie have a combination of both, but overall I use more synthetic.

I'll post the fly tonight

Looking forward to seeing your pictures

Looks great! I'll be tying some of those for pike and muskie

All fishermen love telling stories about their greatest fish... let's do it here. Tell us a short story about you favorite fish (or two), and the fly you caught it on. This doesn't have to be your biggest fish, just you favorite. It would be great if you could include a picture of the fish... I love looking at fish pictures. If you have one, include a picture of the fly too! Let the Fish stories begin My greatest fish was my first big Brown. He measure 24.5". I was having a tough morning, but continued to preserver. Eventually I saw this fish break the surface, about a foot off the shore opposite of where I was fishing. I started with dry flies... first caddis patterns, then mayflies and finally crane flies. Nothing. Time to try nymphing. Nothing. perfect drift after perfect drift, and nothing. Wet flies. nothing. 45 minutes of total frustration and then it happened... I watched him attack a small baitfish that got too close. Right there on the river I said, out loud to the fish, "You just made your first mistake". Out came a Gray Ghost. He didn't like it when I swam the fly past, so I tried a dead drift. That was it. He slammed my ghost on the first drift. After some tail walking and a few dicey moment in some strong current, I slipped him into my net, and let out a triumphant "WHOO HOO". After a quick picture I slipped him back in the river to frustrate someone else.

Thanks for the help guys... this is exactly what I was looking for!

I'm a pastor, more specifically a youth pastor. I work with kids and teens between grade 6 and grade 12. Most of the time it's a pretty great job. These pictures are what I would call "a tough day at the office". I'm the one getting wet. I feel pretty lucky to be paid to do what I do. I've also sold some of my flies on eBay.

Does anybody know where I can find some step by step instructions (with pictures) for tying bait fish imitations, using EP fibers.